


Category Five

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hurricanes & Typhoons, Thunder and Lightning, during Petals to the Metal, relic thrall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 15:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19793413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: "How would you like power, lich? Unceasing, undeniable power. Enough to finally find your wife."In which Barry is thralled by the Gaia Sash.orHurricane Barry just wants his wife back.





	Category Five

Barry hadn't meant for this to happen. He hadn't meant for a lot of things to happen, really. It seemed like ever since he and Lup had come up with the plan for the Grand Relics, he'd been careening down a path he didn't want, didn't choose, and couldn't control. And all of it had led to this moment. To the moment when he had been idiot enough to fall thrall to what they had created. 

But when they had stopped Sloane, he had been right there. He had been close enough to hear the voice of the Sash laying between the two masks. The Raven and the Ram didn't call a warning to him. They didn't know him. 

" _How would you like power, lich? Unceasing, undeniable power. Enough to finally find your wife."_

That had been it. That had been enough to overcome his resolve and he'd snatched the Gaia Sash away before Taako could get a hand on it.

* * *

And now? Now he stood at the heart of a storm, the physical manifestation of the emotions that had been building and growing inside of him since the moment he had woken up to an empty bed, her side of the bed cold, and nothing left but a note. Back Soon. A promise, but a promise never kept. Rain poured down inexorably over the city of Goldcliff turning the desert around it into a basin of mud, turning the streets to rivers, giving substance to the tears that Barry didn't have a body to cry. Lightning tinged red crackled in the sky and danced over his form where he stood in the eye, the one place of quiet in the whole of this storm that spun and surged and threatened to wipe away the city.

And he would, if that was what he had to do. Lup was out there somewhere, he was sure of that. He just didn't know why she had never come home, why she had broken her promises. But this, this she couldn't possibly miss. This would be enough to find her or else for her to find him. He was sure of it. He had to be, with the Gaia Sash singing its sweet song in his mind. He had all the power in the world. He was unconquerable so long as he had the Gaia Sash looped around his quasi-solid form. And he would find Lup.

* * *

Taako clutched his umbrastaff tightly as he huddled in the opaque magical dome he'd conjured as the storm started. It was safe, or it would be for eight hours anyway. It was the only safe place they had right now. Merle was frantically flipping through his Extreme Teen Bible, trying to figure out if he could actually control the weather or if that was just something that he could theoretically do someday. Magnus was silent, listening to the screams that carried on the wind. There was something on his face, something that said he understand tearing the world apart for the person you loved. Then Taako sighed and pulled out his stone of farspeech.

"Hey, Director? We've got kind of a wild sitch down here if you've got a second. Some fuckin' weirdo ghost in a red hoodie grabbed the sash and now we're headlining on the Fantasy Weather Channel."

For a long moment, the Director was silent, though Taako had heard the sharp intake of breath at his news. She absolutely knew something about all of this then. Good, maybe she would fill him in.

"Taako, that is a lich. He's..." She trailed off for a moment before seeming to make a decision. "Is he saying anything?"

Taako's ear swiveled as he listened to the haunting cries somewhere beyond the roaring of the wind.

"He... wants his wife?"

There was confusion in Taako's voice and when the Director responded, he could've sworn there was pain in hers.

"Of course. I don't know why I'm surprised. Taako, this is going to sound insane, but you're the only one who can stop him. Just... just tell him its alright, try and comfort him. And see if you can get the Gaia Sash away before he can do too much damage."

* * *

There was a figure moving through the rain and the wind now, one that Barry was watching with curiosity. He could see the brightly colored clothing, the long pointed ears, the blond hair tied back in a ponytail, even the umbrastaff, and for just a moment he thought it was over. The storm faltered slightly and light shone through, the rain slacking. But no. It wasn't Lup at all. It was Taako. It was Taako carrying her umbrastaff. 

_"Taako_ **,"** he called, voice carrying on the wind and echoing with the power coursing through him. Red sparks shot off of him as his tone turned even more frantic, more desperate. **_"Taako, where did she go? Did... did you find her?"_**

But Taako faltered, uncertainty on his face, and Barry remembered. Taako had forgotten. Taako didn't know the pain, didn't know what he was missing, didn't know that his very heart had been stolen out of his chest. He didn't know to be hurting. Then Taako raised both of his hands, still holding tightly to the umbrastaff.

"Hey, my guy, I know this is... You've got a lot going on, am I right? Who doesn't? But you're killing people, my dude, and whoever you're looking for, I'm gonna bet she wouldn't be into that."

Barry turned to look at his brother, wishing there was some way he could explain, to let Taako understand what they were both missing. Then he turned his eyes to the sky, to the second moon that floated far overhead. Lucretia was the one who had caused this. Lucretia was the one who would have to be made to fix it. The lightning grew in strength with that realization, the flashes coming much, much faster. And then there was a bright flash of light that overwhelmed Barry's vision for a moment, the boom that accompanied it enough to momentarily deafen.

When his eyes cleared, Taako was laying on the ground, badly injured but thankfully alive, and the umbrastaff lay shattered into a thousand pieces. And then...

And then there was a second flash of light and color but this one was flame.

Fire swirled through the air over Taako for a moment before the figure inside it became clear. It was Lup, phantasmal and resplendent, and she was back. 

Barry's eyes widened as he saw her and he reached a hand out towards her, only for another bolt of lightning to crackle through the air near her and Taako. The storm had grown too strong and he was no longer the one in control.

**_"Lup. Lup, where... where were you? Where did you go?"_ **

She closed the distance between them, moving from the torrent of rain and howling of wind into the silence of the eye. Lup cupped his face in her hands, worry in her eyes but love there too. Resting her forehead against his, she closed her eyes.

_"Barry, Bear, it's alright, I'm back and I'll explain everything. But everything's okay now and I just need you to let go of the sash, okay? Can you do that for me?"_

He opened his mouth to say yes, of course. He would do anything for her. But the Gaia Sash didn't want to give him up now. Some objective part of him knew that this was the thrall of the Relic, the craveability as Magnus had once named it. And he had fallen for it and now he couldn't escape even though he wanted to so very badly. He must have said something, must have given her some kind of sign, because Lup kissed him, one arm around his neck.

Then he realized what she was doing as she did it. She ripped the Gaia Sash off of him, flinging it away as far as she could. Then she wrapped both arms around him and clung to him until the storm finally subsided. 

They could deal with the Sash later. They could deal with Taako's confusion later. They could deal with Lucretia and her plans and her mistakes and their own mistakes later. Right now, in this moment, they both needed to reassure themselves that the other was alright. Everything else could wait.

And for the first time in over a decade, the storm of feelings inside Barry Bluejeans began to subside.


End file.
